Detailed Action
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. See Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 573 U.S. 208, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014).
The claim(s) recite(s), inter alia,
Determine a first fantasy team for a sport, in which the first fantasy team includes a first plurality of members that each correspond to a respective player of the sport
receive from a player an indication of a second fantasy team for the sport
in which the second fantasy team includes a second plurality of members that each correspond to a respective player of the sport
receive an indication of respective statistics related to each of the corresponding players of the sport
determine, based on the respective statistics and the first fantasy team, a first performance expectation of the first team in a fantasy game; determine, based on the respective statistics, and the second fantasy team, a second performance expectation of the second team in the fantasy game
determine a characteristic for a wager on the second fantasy team to win the fantasy game between the first fantasy team and the second fantasy team based on the first performance expectation and the second performance expectation
presenting the characteristic to the player
receive an indication of a wager of an amount of money that the second fantasy team will win the fantasy game, in which the wager is defined by the characteristic; determine an outcome of the wager
transmit an indication of a payout amount based on the outcome of the wager and the amount of money
Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, claim 1 relates to resolving a wager according to a game outcome. Wagering is a form of settling financial obligations, which has been held to be an abstract fundamental economic practice. See Alice, Id. at 220; In re Smith, 815 F.3d 816, 818-19, 118 USPQ2d 1245, 1247 (Fed. Cir. 2016).
The abstract idea is not integrated into a practical application. Claim 1 recites the additional elements of a “processor,” and a “memory.” Specifically, these additional elements, when considered individually or in combination, are not integrated into a practical application because:
Processor: In paragraph [0072] of the published specification, it states:
A "processor" means one or more microprocessors, central processing units (CPUs), computing devices, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, or like devices or any combination thereof, regardless of the architecture (e.g., chip-level multiprocessing/multi-core, RISC, CISC, Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages, pipelining configuration, simultaneous multithreading).
Accordingly, it would be reasonable to interpret the processor as a generic computing component.
Memory: In paragraph [0075] of the published specification, it states:
Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media include dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutes the main memory. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled to the processor. Transmission media may include or convey acoustic waves, light waves, and electromagnetic emissions, such as those generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) data communications. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can read..
Accordingly, it would be reasonable to interpret the processor as a generic computing component.
The additional elements which were interpreted under step 2A prong 2 as conventional computing components are re-evaluated in step 2B, and evidence is known that they were well-understood, routine, and conventional at the time of filing.
Processor:
Limiting an invention to run on a computer does not transform an abstract idea into a non-abstract one. Intellectual Ventures LLC v. Capital One Bank (USA), N.A., 792 F.3d 1363, 1366, 115 USPQ2d 1636, 1639 (Fed. Cir. 2015).
Memory:
Storing and retrieving information in memory, Versata Dev. Group, Inc. v. SAP Am., Inc., 793 F.3d 1306, 1334, 115 USPQ2d 1681, 1701 (Fed. Cir. 2015), OIP Techs., 788 F.3d at 1363, 115 USPQ2d at 1092-93). Receiving or transmitting data over a network, e.g., using the Internet to gather data, Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362 (utilizing an intermediary computer to forward information), TLI Communications LLC v. AV Auto. LLC, 823 F.3d 607, 610, 118 USPQ2d 1744, 1745 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (using a telephone for image transmission), OIP Techs., Inc., v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363, 115 USPQ2d 1090, 1093 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (sending messages over a network), buySAFE, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 765 F.3d 1350, 1355, 112 USPQ2d 1093, 1096 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (computer receives and sends information over a network).
Thus, since the invention essentially amounts to the well-known activity of satisfying financial obligations using only conventional computing components, it is therefore adjudged as ineligible subject matter under the requirements of this section as interpreted by Alice.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(e) the invention was described in (1) an application for patent, published under section 122(b), by another filed in the United States before the invention by the applicant for patent or (2) a patent granted on an application for patent by another filed in the United States before the invention by the applicant for patent, except that an international application filed under the treaty defined in section 351(a) shall have the effects for purposes of this subsection of an application filed in the United States only if the international application designated the United States and was published under Article 21(2) of such treaty in the English language.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(e) as being anticipated by Anderson et al (US 2010/0285857 A1) (hereinafter "Anderson").
Regarding claim 1, Anderson teaches an apparatus comprising a processor configured to execute a plurality of instructions (Fig. 2), and a memory on which the plurality of instructions are stored (36), in which the instructions, when execute, cause the processor to determine a first fantasy team for a sport (Abstract: roster is created), in which the first fantasy team includes a first plurality of members that each correspond to a respective player of the sport (¶ [0042]: users can select particular players), receive from a player an indication of a second fantasy team for the sport, in which the second fantasy team includes a second plurality of members that each correspond to a respective player of the sport (¶ [0061]: user decides which of a plurality of rosters to compete against), receive an indication of respective statistics related to each of the corresponding players of the sport (¶ [0043]: tracked statistics), determine, based on the respective statistics, and the first fantasy team, a first performance expectation of the first team in a fantasy game (TABLE 1: odds for various opponents), determine, based on the respective statistics, and the second fantasy team, a second performance expectation of the second team in the fantasy game (TABLE 1: odds for various opponents), determine a characteristic for a wager on the second fantasy team to win the fantasy game between the first fantasy team and the second fantasy team based on the first performance expectation and the second performance expectation (¶ [0043]: tracked statistics), presenting the characteristic to the player, receive an indication of a wager of an amount of money that the second fantasy team will win the fantasy game, in which the wager is defined by the characteristic (618), determine an outcome of the wager (438), and transmit an indication of a payout amount based on the outcome of the wager and the amount of money (442: provide award for winning rosters).
Conclusion
The prior art considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and not relied upon is made of record on the attached PTO-892 form.
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/STEVE ROWLAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715